602 



AMERICAN BEE JOukNAL, 



Sept. 21, 18^.9. 



Hoffman Frames seem to be quite popular in Australia. 

 In the Bee-Bulletin its objections were askt for, and one 

 thought the spacing- too narrow ; another objected to the 

 propolizing- and the difficulty of uncapping witli so wide a 

 top-bar, but the greater number had no objection. 



Straw for Smoker- Fuel is used by some Wisconsin bee- 

 keepers, saj's the Bee-Keepers' Review. A good fire is 

 started in the smoker, and then the straw is jammed in. It 

 burns a long time, and is not so hot as wood. A burning 

 straw-stack, smouldering for days, suggested the idea to 

 Mr. N. E. France. 



Setting Bees to Work in Shallow Extracting=Frames 

 before Putting on Sections, is a plan highly commended 

 in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, but the British Bee Journal 

 does not think it advisable, as by the use of one or more 

 bait-sections bees can be induced to work with sufficient 

 promptness in sections without first using extracting- 

 frames. 



"Victory Thru Defeat; How the Association Has 

 Scared the Adulterators in Chicago," are the head-lines of 

 an editorial in Gleanings in Bee-Culture. The editor quotes 

 at length the report of the case given in this paper on page 

 552, takes heart from the result, and ends by saying : 

 "Hurrah for the Association I Give it your support" with 

 dollars." 



Crimson Clover, says R. L. Taylor, in the Bee-Keep- 

 e/s' Review, is chiefly valuable as a "catch" crop, should 

 never be sown in spring, but as early in July or August as 

 the ground is moist enough, and may be cultivated in at the 

 last working of corn, or harrowed in on oats stubble as soon 

 as the oats are ofl". He says : " It blooms here [Michigan] 

 the latter part of May, the following year, in time to be fol- 

 lowed by corn. At that time it is a great aid to the bees. It 

 is excellent food for all stock, except when dry it is danger- 

 ous for horses, as the large heads are liable to become im- 

 pacted in the stomach." 



Foul Brood Cure.— In the Bee-Keepers" Review, Mr. 

 Taylor refers to the directions for curing foul brood by H. 

 W. Brice, the British authority, as lately given in this de- 

 partment, the cure involving 24 hours' confinement, re-hiv- 

 ing, re-queening, and feeding medicated syrup daily for 

 at least two months. Mr. Taylor then says : " That should 

 please Editor Root in point of safety, but it would be a great 

 and unnecessary burden, and is neither science nor econ- 

 o_mj'. To shake the bees into a hive furnisht with founda- 

 tion during a honey-flow, keeping all infected combs and 

 honey strictly from other beea, is just as safe, with one- 

 tenth the trouble and expense." 



Do Queenless Bees Start a Succession of Queen=Cells? 



— A " Stra^' Straw" in Gleanings in Bee-Culture is as 

 follows : 



" Editor Hutchinson says his bees don't do as mine do. 

 His start all cells at nearly the same time, and so nearlj' of 

 an age that they emerge from the cells within the same two 

 days. As he's a queen-breeder and I'm not, that shook my 

 confidence in my own observations. But that veteraii 

 queen-breeder, Henry Alley, who has reared many more 

 queens than both of us put together, says I'm right. He 

 says : " When I have removed a queen from a colony for 

 the purpose of introducing- another, I find, after waiting 

 three days, cells nearly ready to cap, while there are others 

 just started." 



Fences versus Plain Separators Gleanings in Bee- 

 Culture has the following "Stray Straw :" 



" A surprise has met me. A dozen or so supers were 

 filled with sections, one side old-style sections with plain 

 separators, the other side with plain sections and fences. 

 In every ca.se where there was a difference, and I think 

 there was a difference in every case, in some cases a markt 

 difference, the difference was in favor of the old style, the 

 bees beginning sooner and finishing sooner. I don't un- 



derstand it. I could understand it if there were no differ- 

 ence, but why the bees should do worse with freer commu- 

 nication is beyond me. Is it pure prejudice on the part of 

 the bees ? [This is indeed a surprise when most of the re- 

 ports have seemed to be the other way. But in the interest 

 of fairness and truth, I desire that this item should be as 

 widely circulated as the items of the other character. If 

 there is any advantage in a solid separator, such separator 

 could be used with the plain sections ; but in that case it 

 will be a cleated separator. But plain sections with the 

 same filling are preferred bj' the buyers. I take it that you 

 yourself are partial to tall sections, from what you say on 

 page 601, and that you are afraid that you will have to adopt 

 them. Is it the tallness or the general appearance of the 

 boxes, or what, that makes j'ou think that way ? — Ed.]" 



Introducing Queens. — Editor Hutchinson has had re- 

 ports from a number of customers who have introduced 

 queens by means of the wire-cloth cage, with the wires 

 thrust into the comb. There were a few failures because 

 the cage was put on comb not old and tough enough, and 

 the bees gnawed under to the queen before the)- were readj' 

 to accept her. But most failures came from opening the 

 hive and looking up the queen in a day or two after she was 

 releast, to see if she was all right. The disturbance alarmed 

 the queen, she ran and squealed, and the bees took after her. 

 Then the next time the hive was opened she might be miss- 

 ing. Mr. Hutchinson is verv emphatic that a colony should 

 be left entirely undisturbed for several days after the queen 

 is releast — until she has fully regained her normal condi- 

 tion and is thoroly establisht as queen of the colony. 



As additional sectirity, W. H. Pridgen proposes leaving 

 to the bees the job of releasing the queen. Make a hole 

 thru the comb back of the cage, fill it with candy, and the 

 bees will do the rest. 



Tin versus Wood for Extracted Honey. — "The Amer- 

 ican Tramp " objecting in Gleanings in Bee-Culture to the 

 square cans for extracted honey, the editor replies in part 

 as follows : 



" It is G. W. York, editor of the American Bee Journal, 

 who is arguing for square cans asagainst kegs and barrels : 

 but as I agree with him in the main I come in for my share 

 of your criticisms. 



"In the first place, let me say that Mr. York, altho it is 

 not generally known, handles large quantities of extracted 

 honey. Indeed, I venture to say that he has had considera- 

 bly more experience with square cans, and kegs and barrels, 

 than any dozen average producers all together, and his ver- 

 dict is emphatically in favor of the tin packages. 



" One of your objections to the square cans is the diffi- 

 culty of getting honey out of them ; and that, therefore, the 

 dealer will not sell from them because of that fact. Why, 

 my dear sir, square cans have honey-gates the same as kegs 

 and barrels ; and the matter of convenience in retailing is, 

 to my notion, far ahead of the leakj- wooden things. Nearly 

 all of the dealers' catalogs will be found to illustrate a very 

 neat little honey-gate for square cans, costing 15 cents, or 

 mailed for three cents extra for postage. Every user of 

 square cans should supph- his grocer with one of these 

 little gates ; then the operation of drawing a pound, a quart, 

 or a gallon, is as simple as putting up so much sugar." 



York's Honey Almanac is a neat little 32-page pamph- 

 let especially gotten up with a view to create a demand for 

 honej- among should-be consumers. Aside from the Alma- 

 nac pages, the forepart of the pamphlet was written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, and is devoted to general information concern- 

 ing honey. The latter part consists of recipes for use in 

 cooking and as a medicine. It will be found to be a very 

 effective helper in working up a home market for honey. 

 We furnish them, postpaid, at these prices : A sample for 

 a stamp ; 25 copies for 40 cents ; 50 for 70 cents ; 100 for 

 $1.00 ; 250 for $2.25 ; 500 for S4.00. For 25 cents extra we 

 will print j'our name and address on the front page, when 

 ordering 100 or more copies at these prices. 



Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now 



get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam- 

 ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their 

 subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums 

 in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much 

 by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on 

 other matters. 



